


A little bit broken (a little bit less)

by ladyofthebrook



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:14:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29701791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyofthebrook/pseuds/ladyofthebrook
Summary: “Voldemort is dead, or so the ministry believes. Death eaters are evading the law left and right. They’re desperate to pin blame. They don’t want to give you a trial. That’s why I’m here.”Sirius Black has been in Azkaban for three weeks.The right people think he shouldn't be- and have defied time itself to prove it.(One shot. For now, at least.)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 28





	A little bit broken (a little bit less)

Sirius Black had been in Azkaban for three weeks and heartbroken for a little longer. Every time he closed his eyes he saw them. Saw the still-smoking house, ash fluttering in the sharp autumn wind. Saw Harry’s face, tear-streaked and scarred. 

All his fault.

He’d been so stupid. It was his idea, he’d thought he’d been so clever. Thought that Peter would never…

But he did.

What must Remus think? Sirius hated imagining it and yet couldn’t stop.

Merlin. He’d been such a fool. 

James lying dead, cold, his brother splayed out on the carpet as carelessly as a stamped out cigarette-

“Sirius Black.” A gentle voice spoke, and Sirius flinched further into the shadows of his cell. He straightened as the room warmed, the never-ending chill from the dementors fading. His head was still a bleak place, but he took a shuddering breath and felt someone grieving instead of someone already dead.

He turned and was faced with a beautiful witch with sun-browned skin- James flashed in his mind again- and warm brown eyes. Her wildly curly hair was pulled back and her wand was in hand. She looked young, about his age, but those brown eyes were too knowing. She’d seen things, but then- they were at war. Who hadn’t?

“Are you taking me to my trial?” He asked, suspicious. Why send one single witch? She wasn’t even in an auror uniform. 

She smiled, but it was sad. “No. I’m afraid you’re not scheduled to receive one.”

“That’s against the law,” He said blankly. 

“Voldemort is dead, or so the ministry believes. Death eaters are evading the law left and right. They’re desperate to pin blame. They don’t want to give you a trial. That’s why I’m here.”

“I don’t understand.”

“In my timeline, you were never given a trial. Your innocence was eventually proven- after your death, however. It cost Harry a great deal to lose you.”

"You're saying you're from the future."

"Yes." She said simply. No pretense. 

Sirius waited for the inevitable rise of doubt, of curiosity, but he felt none of it. Except...

“It cost Harry a great deal?” He repeated, and his voice cracked. He cleared his throat, eyes stinging, hoping she'd take it as a sign of disuse rather than emotion. 

The witch’s eyes softened. “More than anything. So many people lost so much… it caused scars that are too deep. They’re festering. In my time, a mentally unstable halfblood who’s muggle born mother was very violently murdered felt it necessary to return the favor. He chose a young pureblood boy whose family was affiliated with Voldemort. The boy did not survive. Even though the war is over, blood is still being shed. The rifts caused are too deep to be healed.”

Sirius sighed, leaning his head back against the gritty wall. “I was born into violence. I never see it end.”

“In my timeline, no. I’m here to fix that. I’ve done my research. I couldn’t come any earlier- I tried for months to find a way around James and Lily's death, but I couldn’t. I am so sorry for your loss. If there was any way… but if we’re truly to end this war, we need Voldemort dead the first time. He’s too strong otherwise. It needed to be like this.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.” 

“I think that if I can come back and successfully change enough key factors, Voldemort will not rise again, and we can defeat him without him ever successfully presenting an enemy front. So many years of paranoia and death can be prevented.”

Sirius felt interest stir for the first time since he failed at killing Peter. “And these key events involve me?” 

“Intricately, yes. Harry was given to Petunia Dursley- I’m sure you’ve heard things about her from Lily, but she and her husband are terrible people. He lives a childhood of neglect and abuse. Remus is shunned without two powerful pureblood friends protecting him. He lives in poverty for the next decade. Peter hides in his rat form- and I know where, though his plans may change when you’re declared innocent. Dumbledore is still researching the source of Voldemort’s… immortality, for better lack of the term. I know all the answers. I recommend we keep him out of the loop.”

“Dumbledore?” Sirius raised his brows. He used to admire the man as a youth- still saw him as a very valuable ally- but sometimes his maneuverings reminded him too much of his more cunning relatives. Still- to lock him out of new information entirely… “Keeping information out of Dumbledore’s grasp is not an easy thing to do.”

Her eyes flashed. “Well, I am the brightest witch of my age. And… I find it hard not to fault Dumbledore for certain events I’m privy to. He acted with the interest of the greater Wizarding good, but put children in danger and with responsibilities too heavy for them far too often for me to trust him now. If he senses a shift in the dynamics and comes to you- he does not in my time- if he visits, feign ignorance.”

“How can I trust you?”

“Harry Potter is my best friend.” She smiled. “I’m here to give him the happily-ever-after he deserves. You put up muggle posters in your bedroom at Grimmauld place with a permanent sticking charm. You told Severus Snape how to get into the Shrieking Shack, and it almost killed him. James Potter is as good as your brother; Ephemia has called you her son. I’ve watched you take your tea black, but according to Lupin, you like it best with three sugars and a little lemon. You’d die before you ever betrayed James. When you confronted Peter in my time, you told him that- that he should have died rather than betrayed his friends, as you all would have done for him. And then Remus said that Peter should have known… if Voldemort didn’t kill him, you and he would.”

“Remus was there?” Sirius croaked. “He doesn’t hate me?”

“He did for a little while. Or- he tried to, I suspect. He never did tell anyone about you being an animagus, even when you were a wanted criminal on the run. But he thought you were guilty for many years. The minute he realized you weren’t… he forgave you.”

Sirius dragged his hand down his face. “Okay. Say I believe you- which I’m just crazy enough to do. What’s your plan?”

Her gaze was knowing enough to make him uncomfortable. “I have an accomplice in this time. Have you not wondered how I was able to safely get here, when wizards struggled to feasibly time travel past a few days for centuries and never managed it properly?”

He shrugged. “Brightest witch of your age, you mentioned?”

“It wasn’t wizard magic that got us here. We were able to spin just enough threads to properly get us to this point, but for it to properly work, he had to go back even farther and pass on a message.”

“You’re being deliberately vague.”

She grinned, sharp and clever. “You haven’t spoken to your brother Regulus in over two years, correct?”

He flinched. “He’s dead.”

“He’s not. He’s been in hiding, under the most powerful protective charms a house elf can manage- which are pretty damn strong, on par with the fidelius at least.”

“What?” Sirius gaped. Of all the surprises she could throw at him- this was wilder than time travel.

“In my time, he died while playing a crucial part in trying to defeat Voldemort. He’d discovered his most closely kept secret and used it against him. I don’t know how long he’d been against Voldemort at that point, but in 1979 he died to try and aid in his eventual defeat. Kreacher helped, and it broke him, I think. Regulus’s loss.”

“Kreacher always loved him most,” Sirius said blankly.

“I went to Kreacher for help with time travel. Elves understand magic in ways we don’t- wizards are always underestimating them, but their way of magic is purer and more elemental than ours will ever be. Together, blending our magic and knowledge, we succeeded. Kreacher’s stipulation was that Regulus be saved. I would have tried anyways, I think- he died doing a good thing, and he may know things even I don’t about Voldemort. So Kreacher intercepted his path and told him instead of accomplishing his task, to wait. He’s been in hiding, presumed dead by most, for over two years now, waiting. He’ll come out of the shadows now that Voldemort is dead, along with hundreds others who fled the country. He’ll speak about being targeted by death eaters- the Black family was presumed dark, and under pressure from his close relations and being tracked by the dark Lord himself, he went into hiding in America. He’ll be respected for speaking out- for not joining. You and he are the only Blacks left alive. The money alone, which he has full access to, as your mother made him Heir- will sway opinions.”

Sirius laughed, reckless and emotional. His brother was alive. His brother wasn’t a servant of Voldemort. He’d- he’d been ready to die to…

The witch continued. “Regulus will demand a trial for you. You will volunteer to veritaserum. You will confess to being an unregistered Animagus to give your story further credence. The sentence for that is typically two to three months in Azkaban. However, I will be there. ‘Sicilia Graves’, an American pureblood lawyer who Regulates met while in America. I’ll levy your improper imprisonment with no scheduled trial and the fact that you were underage when you completed the transformation process against your confession. I don’t foresee you getting any further time in here. At some point, I intend on explaining this all to Remus as well. The four of us will go back to Grimmauld place where I’ll explain the secret to Voldemort’s power and we’ll hunt him to nothing before he ever rises, among other goals- like getting custody of Harry for you. He doesn’t belong at the Dursleys.”

“This is really happening.”

She smiled. “Yes. Soon. Regulus will be waiting to meet me- I’ve got to go. But before I do...” She dipped her hand in her pocket and pulled out a small, translucent honey colored stone with a protection rune etched in gold. “Baltic amber imbued with protective spells. It should keep the worst of the dementor’s depression at bay, and they won’t be able to notice. It won’t prevent a kiss, however, or keep them from getting closer- just provide an emotional balm.” She handed it to him. It was warm to the touch.

“Thank you,” He said hoarsely. 

“You and I will see each other again. Kreacher?”

And his house elf- his plain, creeping house elf, the sniveling thing that worshiped his hated mother- appeared. He took her hand, and they both stepped back into nothingness and he was alone again- but a little less broken.


End file.
